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Tag Archives: Sacrament

Life has loveliness to sell, all beautiful and splendid things, blue waves whitened on a cliff, soaring fire that sways and sings, and children’s faces looking up, holding wonder like a cup. ~Sara Teasdale

The usefulness of the cup is in its emptiness. ~Bruce Lee

But tomorrow, dawn will come the way I picture her, barefoot and disheveled, standing outside my window in one of the fragile cotton dresses of summer offering a handful of birdsong and a cup of light. ~Edited quote by William Collins

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God’s handwriting – a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God fot is as a cup of blessing. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. ~Psalm 23:5-6 ✝

Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you save, you heal, you restore, and you reveal Your Father’s heart to us! You have captured me with grace and I’m caught in Your infinite embrace! Like Saint Hildegard Lord, may I too be a feather on your holy breath and spread, like seeds, the gospel abroad.

If all the beasts were gone,
men would die from a great loneliness of spirit,
for whatever happens to the beasts
also happens to the man.
All things are connected.
Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of Earth.
~Chief Seattle of the Suquamish Tribe

The creatures of earth, sea and sky came forth “out of the waters of God’s life.” And their arrival was yet another manifestation of the visible from the invisible–another disclosure of the mystery of God. In addition, “with the birth of the creatures there is the emergence of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. The light of the sun and the whiteness of the moon can now be seen. The wind blowing through the leaves of trees and the crashing of ocean waves can be heard. The early morning fragrance of the earth can be smelled. Its fruit can be tasted, and its textures touched,” writes J. Philip Newell. It has even been said that if one wants to know the Creator, one of the ways to gain insight is to know His creatures, and I think that’s especially true when it comes to examining the sensory aspect of their coming. For does not the ability to see, that the creatures brought, teach mankind to see with the eyes of the heart? In the silences of humanity’s reality does not the ability to hear teach men to listen for the “echo of the spheres” and the still, small voice of God? Do not the abilities to smell, taste, and touch help mortals meet their Savior, Jesus, through the holy sacrament of the Eucharist (Communion)?

And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground–everything that has the breath of life in it–I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. ~Genesis 1:30

But the true lover of rain…has a deep inner enjoyment of the rain, as rain, and his sense of its beauty drinks it in as thirstily as does the drinking earth. It refreshes and cools his heart and brain; he longs to go forth into the fields, to feel its steady stream, to scent its fragrance; to stand under some heavy-foilaged chestnut-tree, and hear the rushing music on the crowded leaves. ~John Richard Vernon

**One of my readers just sent me to a website which has a slowed down audio clip of crickets chirping. It’s amazing to hear that they sound like an angelic choir reminiscent of gregrorian chanters. If you’d like to listen, you’ll find it at: www.soundcloud.com/acornavi/robert-wilson-crickets-audio

I like to think of the universe as a cosmic temple and of planet earth as a sanctuary in that temple. Though not given the power of speech as such, rain and other weather-related phenomena exhibit distinctive voices under heaven’s dome, and as they fall from earth’s chaotic atmosphere, they often blend their unique voices with other holy sounds in the natural world. I believe that in that sacred chorus is a call to humanity to seek the Maker of the temple because God not only hardwired man with a desire to connect with other human beings but also with a longing to seek and connect with Him whose breath gave him life. To that end man was given eyes to witness the sacraments of heaven and earth, ears to hear the chants of their hallowed voices, intellect to question and understand much of what is seen and heard, and a heart that in due time turns from irreverence to longing. Tecumseh, a leader of the Shawnee, said, “Nature is so powerful, so strong. Capturing the essence is not easy – your work becomes a dance with light and the weather. It takes you to a place within yourself.”

Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. ~Deuteronomy 32:2 ✝

Remember God’s bounty in the year.
String the pearls of His favor.
Hide the dark parts,
except so far as they are breaking out in light!
Give this one day to thanks, to joy, to gratitude!
~Henry Ward Beecher

Just in case I haven’t declared lately how much I love autumn, let me say it one more time. My, oh my, oh my, but what stunning “pearls” the Lord gives us to string together in autumn. The colors in these roses are so absolutely scrumptious that when I came upon them in the yard a couple of days ago, I wanted to go back in the house and immediately start baking something “pumpkiny” or “lemony.” I imagined a dessert of some kind with cinnamon and/or cloves that when finished would be slathered with butter or icing. Then, as if she had read my thoughts, my friend Liz cooked something similar to what I imagined for our luncheon yesterday, and what a delicious pumpkin bread-pudding topped with caramel and pecans she made! It was as delicious for the tongue as these roses were beautiful for the eyes.

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him. ~Psalm 34:8